


Fire, Ready, Aim

by occultclysms



Series: Father of All Motherfuckers [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Arson, Blackmail, M/M, Past Moon Taeil/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Revenge, Teenage Rebellion, Vandalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27595054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/occultclysms/pseuds/occultclysms
Summary: Johnny is impulsive and he knows this, but at this point, he keeps making less and less rational decisions. Until Doyoung comes into his life and gives him a bit of guidance.
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Series: Father of All Motherfuckers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008501
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	Fire, Ready, Aim

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO AND WELCOME TO PART TWO!!! if you haven't read the first one it doesn't matter, but there will be references to things but the overall story isn't affected. mind the tags please, but enjoy
> 
> also pay close attention to the dates... they will give more away than you think

October 22, 2020

“You cannot be serious,” Johnny says, but Donghyuck only crosses his arms. Yeah, guess he’s serious.

“Why would I make a joke like that though?” Donghyuck asks. “It would be in poor taste.” Johnny bites back a comment about Donghyuck’s grades.

“So what do you want? I don’t have a ton of money, if that’s what you’re after.” Donghyuck is unbelievable. He acts like he’s somehow better than Johnny, but he isn’t. If anything, Donghyuck should be understanding considering the fact that he’s most certainly done this before. 

“I want you to tutor me,” Donghyuck replies, confidence faltering a bit.

“This is extremely ironic, but fine. What do you need help in?” Johnny asks. “I’m not strong in science though if that’s something you need help with.”

“Mainly in band, but my math grade also isn’t ideal.” Band actually makes quite a bit of sense. Johnny has been playing the alto saxophone since the fourth grade and Donghyuck only started this year, and they sit next to each other. The teacher clearly hopes that Donghyuck will somehow pick up on Johnny’s natural talents, but he’s been struggling. And it’s not like that’s completely his fault, there’s only so much he can learn on his own when he’s only playing catch up instead of really learning the music.

“Yeah, I can help you in both of those. Stay after class tomorrow and I’ll help you through lunch,” Johnny decides. “Just keep this lowkey because I’ll stop helping you the minute I get even a whiff of that spreading around.” Saying it out loud made it real, and Johnny doesn’t want it to be real. He really cares about his image and it takes just one stupid mistake, but if Johnny hadn’t let himself be influenced by another student then he wouldn’t be in this situation.

“Great.” Donghyuck leaves the spare classroom and Johnny sighs, learning against one of the desks and staring at the whiteboard on the other side of the room. This is what they mean when they say about small mistakes coming back to bite you in the ass, huh? 

There’s no use in getting upset now though. School is already over, so Johnny might as well go home and work on homework or something to take his mind off this.

Johnny walks out of the classroom and heads out to the front lawn. There’s still a smattering of kids outside talking or waiting for their parents. Johnny passes them all by and goes to the right, past the bus stop and towards his car.

“Johnny!” Mark exclaims from behind him. Johnny turns around to see a slightly breathless Mark smiling from ear to ear. Mark really isn’t the person that Johnny wants to see right now, but Mark doesn’t know that.

“Hey Mark,” Johnny replies, stopping so Mark can catch up with him. Mark is several inches shorter than Johnny and seems to be radiating happiness, which makes it so difficult to stay mad at him as Johnny’s brain keeps associating Mark to a puppy. “Do you need something?”

“Uh, yeah.” Mark looks awkward and rubs the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “You’re eighteen, right?” That is a question that can never mean anything good coming from a high school student.

“Yeah, I’m eighteen. I thought you were too,” Johnny answers hesitantly. 

“Yuta gave me a stick n poke tattoo and I’m getting a reaction from it. It’s not super bad, I just want to buy some stuff for it, but I think you need to be eighteen to go to a tattoo parlor,” Mark explains. Johnny doesn’t know how accurate that is, he’s honestly much more focused on the fact that Yuta gave Mark a tattoo, but they aren’t close enough for Johnny to really ask about that. He wouldn’t say that him and Mark are even friends, more so merely acquaintances. Mark is the sort of person Johnny would get high with because he’s pretty chill, or at least he’s becoming a lot more chill.

“I mean, I’m free right now if you want to go,” Johnny offers.

“Great.” They both get into Johnny’s car, Mark buckling his seatbelt with excitement. Johnny knows of a nearby tattoo place which should be good enough because it’s not like Mark said there’s some specific place he wanted to go.

“Okay, I know it’s none of my business, but why did you get a tattoo?” Johnny asks. Sure, they aren’t close, but this is really unlike Mark and it has Yuta’s name written all over it. Not that that’s even necessarily a bad thing, but Johnny just really wants to know. 

“Well…” Mark looks out his window and puts his hands between his knees. “You’re like bi, right?” Now that’s a twist Johnny wasn’t expecting.

“Yeah, I’m bi,” Johnny replies. He is and has known for a while, but he came out on a total whim without even being totally sure of himself which could’ve blown up in his face, but thankfully didn’t because he was right. Sexual orientation shit is difficult to figure out, so he just jumped on the bomb and hoped for the best.

“I just thought it was a good idea because Yuta and I share something like that in common,” Mark says cryptically. Johnny has no idea if this is Mark’s way of coming out or not, but he’ll take it either way. Mark is hooking up with Yuta.

“I hope that works out for you,” Johnny decides on. It’s not the best wording, but Johnny has never been one for emotional support speeches and Mark is turning pink just from vaguely talking about it, so Johnny will keep it under wraps at the very least.

“Anyways! Are we almost there?” Mark asks.

“Yeah, just a few more blocks.” Mark hums and Johnny decides not to pay him any mind. He has no idea why Mark is so on edge all of a sudden when he was doing perfectly fine before they got in the car.

Johnny parks the car and looks to Mark who looks like a deer in headlights. Yeah, he has to say something else to him. He doesn’t have time to think through the words, so he says them anyway.

“Look, I don’t care if you’re gay or bi or anything like that,” Johnny begins. “I think you’re fucking Yuta, but that’s none of my business. I’ll pretend nothing ever happened here and you’re still straight because you haven’t publicly said anything about your sexuality, which is fine y’know.” Mark sucks in a breath before looking up at Johnny.

“Thanks, sometimes I speak without thinking and I really don’t want it to come back and bite me in the ass,” Mark mumbles and Johnny nods.

“Anyways, lets get that stuff for your tattoo.” It hits Johnny right then that Mark already turned eighteen back in August. Well, that prompts the question of why he even needed to ask Johnny to take him, but Johnny isn’t going to prod.

“Yep,” Mark replies, popping the P and letting out a deep breath. They walk into the tattoo parlor and Johnny suddenly gets why Mark asked him to come. While Mark doesn’t cling onto Johnny, he certainly stands closer to him than normal and seems put off by all the heavily tattooed people.

“Excuse me,” Johnny begins, getting the attention of the man behind the counter. “My friend here needs some stuff to help his tattoo heal better.”

“Yeah, it’s more red than it should be and I don’t want to get an infection,” Mark tacks on.

“Let me look at it and I’ll see what you need.” Mark looks at Johnny with fear in his eyes and tries to communicate that he has no idea why Mark is afraid.

“Okay, cool.” Mark very hesitantly lifts up his shirt and refuses to make eye contact with anyone. Oh, he’s self conscious. Johnny sees Mark’s tiny smiley face tattoo and approves of it, though Mark is right in the fact that it doesn’t seem to be healing quite right.

“You can put your shirt down now,” the employee says and Mark drops his shirt immediately, blushing beyond belief. “I have something that’ll help, just let me get it from the back.” Mark nods, but is clearly still mortified. Johnny honestly feels bad for Mark.

“I know this might be pointless,” Johnny begins. “But you have nothing to be self conscious about. You look like a normal, healthy eighteen year old, and everyone who might say anything otherwise can suck it.” Mark at first looks shocked that Johnny caught onto the fact that he’s self conscious, but then his expression shifts to one of thankfulness.

“Thanks, Johnny,” Mark says. “I kinda knew they would have to look at it, but it's very different in my head versus reality.”

“Yeah, I get it, I’m just trying to give you a little boost of self esteem, if that’s something I can even do for you.” 

“That’s really kind of you.” Mark pays for the bottle of whatever he needs and Johnny drives him home, Mark in a good mood the entire time.

  
  


November 4, 2020

Johnny hates tutoring Donghyuck. He’s sure of it. Donghyuck is the worst at taking constructive criticism and while he practices and is improving, he takes forever to actually implement Johnny’s tips.

“Donghyuck, I have told you time and time again that you will be a better player if you keep your cheeks in. Puffing them out makes sense now, but there’s a reason you don’t see professionals doing shit like that,” Johnny lectures for the millionth time but that seems to be the last straw for Donghyuck.

“And I’ve told you that holding my mouth like that makes me sound worse,” Donghyuck replies, looking pissed off. This is the worst thing Johnny could have agreed to. Why the fuck is Donghyuck so mad all the time? It’s every time they need to tutor together that Donghyuck is practically fuming by the time they get set up.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re building a house on a shitty foundation so you’re gonna reach a point where like that you just can’t improve. I’ve been doing this for longer than you have so just listen to me,” Johnny says, nearly at the end of his wit.”

“Forget it!” Donghyuck snaps his music folder shut and puts his saxophone away before storming out of the room and Johnny has no idea why he puts up with his bullshit anymore.

Johnny sits down on one of the abandoned band chairs and sits with his head in his hands. There has to be a way out of this. Donghyuck is the worst possible student ever. An idea pops into Johnny’s mind though it might not be the smartest one.

  
  


November 12, 2020

“I’m surprised you wanted to hang out,” Taeil says. Calling Taeil was completely on impulse and arguably irrational, but Donghyuck is playing dirty— hell, this whole game is dirty— so why can’t Johnny play dirty too?

“Well, we haven’t talked much since school started back up again,” Johnny begins. “And I figured I could stand to pay you a visit.” Taeil shuts the door behind Johnny and rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, uh huh,” Taeil replies. “Come sit down and then we can talk about the real reason why you asked to hang out.” Johnny sighs, Taeil can see through him too easily.

“Okay, fine.” Johnny slips his hands into his jeans and follows Taeil into the living room, sitting side by side, but not touching on the couch. While things used to be that way, they aren’t anymore.

“Alright, now spill.” Taeil sets his hands on his thighs and looks over at Johnny. “You haven’t had a real conversation with me since April and now it's November.”

“I cheated on my History test with Mark Lee, the overachieving kid on student council, and he’s been clinging onto Yuta Nakamoto recently,” Johnny explains. He’s overdoing it clearly, as evidenced by Taeil holding up his hand. But he’s never been good at words around Taeil, not that his track record around others is perfect otherwise.

“I don’t need to know the full backstory right now, but I would certainly like some gossip in exchange for what I’m giving you.” Taeil’s tone is suggestive and Johnny thinks of Mark’s half coming out. He wants to spill that to Taeil, but thats one thing Johnny won’t fuck up on— he knows what that is like as well.

“I don’t have anything on Mark or Yuta if that’s what you’re asking. But Donghyuck Lee, the saxophone player got word of me cheating somehow and is now black mailing me to tutor him. But we’ve never had a bad interaction before that, so why not just ask for help in the band? That’s not even uncommon.” 

“You’re ranting again,” Taeil interrupts and Johnny promptly shuts his mouth. “So Donghyuck Lee, eh?” Johnny nods. “All I really know about him is that he has the hots for that Mark Lee that you brought up.”

“He does?” This is the exact sort of leverage Johnny needs to try and wriggle his way out of this. 

“Apparently it’s intense too.” Taeil crosses his legs. “I don’t think Donghyuck has a chance if I’m honest. I’ve talked to Mark a few times, certainly a nice enough boy but he wouldn’t even give Donghyuck a second look.” Johnny’s eyes gravitate to Taeil’s mouth, as he always used to and he takes just a second too long to look away.

“That’s good to know,” Johnny comments, trying to diffuse some of the tension that he’s sure he’s making up in his head.

“Normally there’s a price for my information, but I might be able to arrange something special for you.” Taeil looks right into Johnny’s eyes, seeing deep into his soul and Johnny feels like he’s drowning again. So he makes an impulse decision and places his hand on Taeil’s upper thigh, leaning in closer.

“I’ll be sure to make sure it’s worth it for you.” Then Johnny connects their lips. It’s a mistake and he’s sure he’ll come to regret later, but right now that doesn’t matter.

  
  


December 1, 2020

The week off for Thanksgiving had given Johnny plenty of time to think. And plenty of time to repeat his bad mistakes with Taeil. Every time they stopped kissing, breathless and staring into each other's eyes, Johnny feels a pang of regret in his heart. But he knows he should stop because there’s a reason that he and Taeil broke up in the first place.

The reason falls more on Taeil’s shoulders than on Johnny’s, but it still was more timing rather than anything else. Everything had to collide right then and suddenly everything was over and Johnny was leaving.

But that has nothing to do with now. Taeil helped Johnny realize that he should stand up to Donghyuck. He’s an absolute pain in Johnny’s ass and it’s not like cheating on one assignment is the end of the world anyway. Okay, well it was a test, which makes it a bigger deal, but Johnny is trying to focus on the positives right now.

“So why did you ask me to stay late?” Donghyuck asks. “We didn’t schedule any tutoring for today.” The practice door shuts behind him and Johnny is grateful that it closes on it’s own since this isn’t going to be a pretty conversation.

“Because I’m done tutoring you,” Johnny says. He can try and do this the reasonable way, but if Donghyuck starts to twist the knife…

“What do you mean you’re done?” Donghyuck takes a step closer and Johnny stands his ground. He’s not gonna put up with any of Donghyuck’s bullshit. Donghyuck should have manned up and asked him for help rather than been so filthy about it.

“I mean,” Johnny begins, taking a step closer. “That I’m not going to succumb to your blackmail anymore. You didn’t even need to blackmail me in the first place.”

“I’ll tell—”

“Go ahead and tell the teacher, I don’t care. Just know that you’re the one shooting yourself in the foot here.” Johnny keeps all of his words collected, just as he rehearsed them. Granted, that was in the mirror and to himself, but it’s still something.

“I don’t know what sort of brave shit you think you’re pulling here, but a zero on an assessment is going to fuck you over more than it would to just keep tutoring me,” Donghyuck tries, but Johnny can see that he’s getting frustrated. He didn’t see this coming at all.

“I know exactly what I’m doing.” Johnny raises his chin a fraction higher, forcing Donghyuck’s eye line up even higher.

“You’re going to regret this,” Donghyuck mutters, looking close to blowing a fuse.

“Am I though? Because Mark will never even look at you twice and you know it. At least I can actually get guys.” That’s the final straw and Donghyuck looks like he’s going to explode. Johnny couldn’t resist pushing the final big red button.

“Fuck you,” Donghyuck spits before storming out of the band room. Johnny honestly thought he’d have some sort of bigger reaction, so he’s honestly a bit disappointed.

  
  


December 2, 2020

Donghyuck seemingly didn’t waste any time to rat on Johnny to his teacher. Mr. Haugen had asked Johnny to come visit him after school and Johnny already knew what it would be about.

“A student told me that you cheated on the exam I gave you back in October,” Mr. Haugen begins. “As you know, I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to cheating.”

“Yes, I know, and it was a bad mistake, so I’ll just take the zero,” Johnny replies. “And in the sake of full honestly, Mark Lee cheated as well.” Johnny doesn’t like to bring Mark down here, but Donghyuck is screwing him to get some sort of attention from Mark and well that won’t work if Mark knows that Donghyuck is the one that blabbed on them cheating.

“That’s a nice sentiment, Mr. Suh.” Mr. Haugen takes off his glasses and looks up at Johnny. “But that was the last marking period, so I’m going to have to give you a zero on your final which as you know is worth twenty five percent of your final grade.” Johnny thinks he’s going to lose it. Yes, he cheated, but he’s being overly punished at this point. That one test would be probably five percent of his overall semester grade, but now he’s being slighted twenty five percent. Fuck Donghyuck.

“I understand,” Johnny grits out. He wants to scream or kick something or anything, but he can’t right now. Now, out of any time is going to be the most important time for him to keep his shit together. 

“And do let Mark know this as well,” Mr. Haugen says. Johnny nods and leaves the classroom, trying not to kick a locker. There’s basically no one around, so he can let off steam down in the basement. Teachers probably won’t be there either as there’s only two classrooms down there. 

Johnny stomps down the stairs to the basement and glances around before kicking a locker as hard as he can. It only dents slightly, but it relieves some of the impulsive energy in Johnny. He kicks another one, the sound echoing down the hall. If he’s caught, he’s gonna get in even more trouble, but Johnny just needs to chill out.

“Any reason why you’re kicking lockers like they stole your lunch money?” Johnny turns his head to see someone he’s never met before. His nose piercing draws Johnny’s eye first before his gaze drops to the strangers lips, a pink lollipop trapped between them.

“Some kid screwed me over,” Johnny replies, finally feeling calmer. “It’s not a big deal though.” 

“Are you sure?” The stranger walks closer and leans on a locker right next to Johnny. “Because you seem pretty mad.”

“Who are you to judge me?” Johnny counters, already feeling a bit miffed again. 

“I’m Doyoung and I’m not judging you, just observing.” Doyoung pushes the lollipop past his lips again and looks Johnny up and down. 

“I can see that.” Johnny isn’t really in the mood to flirt right now. Not to mention that Taeil pops into his mind despite them only having a casual fling. Taeil’s words, not Johnny’s, who isn’t exactly sure where he stands feeling-wise with Taeil.

“I’m just bored because my boyfriend told me he’s busy and you look like you might be fun,” Doyoung says.

“You just looked me up and down like you want to eat me and I don’t fuck with cheaters,” Johnny replies, turning to leave, but Doyoung grabs his arm.

“I don’t either,” Doyoung corrects, the lollipop making a visible bump in his cheek. “I can’t stand cheaters at all. I’ll flirt with anyone and I don’t care if my boyfriend flirts either, but I’m not about to try and get in your pants.”

“Alright,” Johnny relents, a tiny bit intrigued by Doyoung. “So you’re bored, huh?” Doyoung smiles, gums showing and he lets go of Johnny’s shoulder.

  
  


January 5, 2021

Johnny’s phone rings. It’s Mark. He and Mark haven’t really talked at all, Mark being far too busy being attached to Yuta’s hip whenever Johnny sees him. So he hasn’t had a great chance to tell Mark about them getting caught for cheating. But that means that Johnny can play dumb and throw Donghyuck under the bus here. Because it’s his fault to begin with.

“Hey, Mark. What’s up?” Johnny greets.

“What do you mean what’s up?” Mark exclaims. “Mr. Haugen gave me a fucking C and there’s a note saying to be better, whatever the fuck that means.”

“I got the same thing,” Johnny replies. “He called me into his office on that day you were out of school for student council and said that Donghyuck reported us for cheating.” 

“Why the fuck didn’t he talk to me like I don’t know— the day after?! And Donghyuck isn’t even in that fucking class, what does he know?” Mark is fuming more than Johnny could have ever really predicted. Part of him feels bad, until he remembers what an ass Donghyuck was during their tutoring sessions. Then he doesn’t feel as bad.

“Yeah man, I have no clue. I’m really sorry you didn’t get the memo about it,” Johnny replies, trying to at least make Mark a smidge less angry.

“What am I going to tell my mom? Fuck,” Mark mutters, sounding decently close to crying. Damn it. Now Johnny feels really bad. “I gotta go.” Mark hangs up before Johnny can think of anything better to say. He sets his phone in his lap and looks at the ceiling. He isn’t even at his house.

Johnny is at Taeil’s house. Again. They spent most of winter break hanging out together, but within thirty minutes it turned into them making out. Currently, Taeil’s downstairs because he had to call a group mate about some project thing. 

Guilt tends to make Johnny think. Like really think about his life. Every other time Johnny is prompted to re-evaluate himself, he just hits the ‘remind me later’ button in his brain. But now Johnny isn’t shying away from it.

He should really start taking school seriously. He’s applied to some colleges, but he didn’t shoot that high because he didn’t see the point since it’s already January. If Johnny really wants to make something of himself, he’s going to have to start actually studying and pushing himself to improve. Which means getting rid of the things in his life that aren’t going to help him in the long run.

And sadly, that means Taeil. Taeil is fun to have around and Johnny has missed their days of dating, but if he’s insisting upon keeping things casual, then Johnny needs to stop them from constantly doing things that friend’s don’t do. Johnny isn’t strong enough to cut out Taeil completely, but no more wishy-washy relationship status.

“Hey Johnny?” Taeil asks, opening his door and Johnny sits up. “I just got off the phone with Jungwoo.”

“Can I talk to you about something?” Johnny already feels his throat getting tight, but he has to get all the words out before he can’t say anymore.

“Yeah, of course.” Taeil sits at the end of his bed and looks over at Johnny. “You can tell me anything.” Johnny takes a deep breath. He knows when he tells Taeil something it goes right into his vault of knowledge. It doesn’t mean he’s going to tell anyone, but it means that it’s right in there with all the things he knows about Mark, about Yuta, about everybody. 

“I think we need to stop pretending we’re dating again. I’m fine being friends with you, but I can’t do some sort of casual thing, it’s just not going to happen. So I’m gonna need some space, but please don’t take this as me saying I can’t stand you or something because I really like you,” Johnny blurts out and Taeil just looks at him, sucking in his bottom lip between his teeth. That's the face Taeil makes right before he’s about to cry but doesn’t want to. Johnny’s only seen it a few times. Most notably when they broke up last time.

“I get it, yeah,” Taeil replies. “Just see yourself out then.” Taeil tightens his hands into fists in his lap and Johnny wants to apologize, but he has to do this. No more being wishy-washy.

Johnny walks out of Taeil’s room quietly, trying his absolute best to avoid Taeil’s parents because now is so not the time to chit chat. Not to mention how they were already suspicious of Johnny hanging around again.

Thankfully, Johnny doesn’t run into anyone. He gets in his car and decides that he doesn’t really want to go home right now. He’s bored and there’s someone who’s managed to be quite entertaining when he’s bored.

The phone rings for a minute and Johnny swears that he thinks there isn’t going to be an answer. But then the line picks up.

“’Sup Johnny.” 

“I’m bored, do you want to go hang out?” Johnny asks. 

“Sure, I’m over by Green Bubble so just meet me there. You’re buying.” Johnny knows where he’s going, so he gets there within ten minutes and sees Doyoung standing in front, looking judgy as usual, glaring at anyone who stares at him. Very Doyoung of him.

“Afternoon,” Johnny says, locking his car and walking over to Doyoung. “Do you already know what you want or do we have to look at the menu for five minutes?”

“Of course I know. The question is do you?” Doyoung asks. “And if you don’t then I’ll pick something for you. Consider it my gift to you.” Doyoung blows a kiss to Johnny who laughs; Doyoung is exactly what Johnny needs right now. Someone who is nothing like Taeil.

“Granted I’ve only had boba once and it wasn’t amazing, thrill me,” Johnny replies and Doyoung nods.

“I’m very good at thrilling people, I’ll have you know.” They step inside and Johnny is immediately overwhelmed by the menu. Yeah, this is why Johnny had someone else pick for him the first time he was here. “Tell me if you hate anything on there because I’m not a mind reader, but I’m working on it.” Johnny looks over the list, not sure of what half of the stuff is but he spots lavender and wintermelon, things he never likes no matter what they are in.

“No lavender or wintermelon,” Johnny says, looking for anything else that might taste gross. “Yeah, that’s it.” 

“Great, now give me your wallet.” Doyoung extends a hand, black nail polish and lace fingerless gloves making him look almost like a witch. He might actually be a witch, but Johnny isn’t going to ask for fear of getting hexed. 

“You better give it back,” Johnny warns, but he hands over his wallet anyway and Doyoung turns it over in his hands.

“This is so dull looking. I expected something with at least a swear word on it.” Doyoung shoots Johnny a look before rifling through his wallet and taking out eleven dollars. “Before you ask, I know exactly how much our drinks are going to cost, but you don’t have coins in here, so I rounded up.” 

“I don’t know how you did that math so fast, but I’ll trust you on it.” They get to the front of the line and Doyoung rattles off their order too quickly for Johnny to have any idea what he’s really saying. It turns out that it’s ten dollars and seventy five cents exactly, so Doyoung turns to Johnny looking smug before leading Johnny away.

“Why do people pay so much for this?” Johnny asks once they are out of earshot of the cashier and sat down across from each other at one of the small tables. Doyoung slides the remaining quarter across the table to Johnny.

“People pay just as much for Starbucks, which tastes like white suburban moms,” Doyoung replies.

“Aren’t you gonna finish that sentence?” Johnny pockets the quarter before turning his attention back to Doyoung.

“No,” Doyoung deadpans. “Starbucks tastes like people, but not just any people— white suburban moms.” Johnny bites his lip to prevent himself from laughing. Their number is called, so Johnny gets up to grab the colorful drinks.

“Okay, so which is which and what are they?” Johnny asks, setting both of the drinks between them. Doyoung grabs the mint green one and shoves a straw in it.

“That one is yours and mine is peppermint milk tea with almond milk, boba and pudding. You have a strawberry milk tea with boba and jelly,” Doyoung explains, pointing out the different things in their drinks with his nails.

“What if I hate it?”

“Would I ever do you like that though?” Doyoung counters before taking a sip of his drink.

“We’ve only hung out a few times,” Johnny points out, putting the straw through the top of the cup. “What if this is poison?”

“I wouldn’t poison you in a public place,” Doyoung replies, as if that’s any bit reassuring. Whatever, here goes nothing. Johnny takes a sip of his drink, expecting the worst, but it’s actually really good. He’ll admit that chewing things and drinking is weird, but he’s not against it.

“This is really really good. I have no idea how you picked this, but I really like it,” Johnny says and Doyoung looks proud.

“I told you I would pick something good. Now tell me why we’re here. You called me up out of the blue, so I assume there has to be something going on,” Doyoung says, drawing circles with his finger on the table. 

“Well, yeah, but you don’t seem like you really care about that,” Johnny admits and Doyoung’s eye flick up at him. “No offense, I’m just being honest.”

“I know how I appear, but I do care. You’re a person with feelings as am I and so is everyone else. If you keep that in mind before you do shit, then you’ll be much less of an asshole,” Doyoung replies. “But that shouldn’t matter, even if I don’t give a fuck, you just paid for my expensive drink so I should shut up and listen anyway.” Doyoung smiles at that, looking at Johnny. “So spill.”

“I broke things off with this guy I had been casually seeing,” Johnny confesses. It’s not the whole truth, but it’s a start. 

“Go on.” Johnny furrows his brows at Doyoung who rolls his eyes. “It’s more than that. I told you I’m working on the mind reading and you’re holding something back.”

“That’s freaky y’know.” Doyoung nods and Johnny takes another sip to try and stall. “But this guy is my ex—” Doyoung’s expression shifts. “Don’t do that with your face, it makes you seem like you’re judging me.”

“I will treat you like a person, but nine times out of ten getting back with your ex is a bad idea. Unless your ex is like Christiano Ronaldo. I don’t even like soccer, but I make exceptions for sexy guys,” Doyoung interjects and Johnny laughs.

“He feels like my Cristiano Ronaldo even though that’s pretty illogical as he hates soccer. But anyways, we started very casually making out with each other back in November.” Doyoung gasps.

“That’s so scandalous.” 

“Shush. Yeah, so then we kinda talked and he said he wanted to be casual which was fine with me, but then—” Johnny’s voice catches and he looks at the table. “I caught feelings again.”

“Uh oh. So it was smart for you to break things off,” Doyoung says. “Otherwise, he’s gonna stomp on your heart.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“For feelings after a break up I recommend something big that will really make you feel better. Like burning all his stuff. I can see you’re already not taking me seriously, but I made voodoo dolls of my exes and I’m very emotionally put together,” Doyoung explains. “Just think about it, and if in a month or so you’re still hung up on him, give me a call.” 

“I’ll do that, Doyoung,” Johnny relents. He can get over Taeil in a month. It wasn’t like they were together for that long—if they were even together--and besides, a month is a long time. Doyoung’s phone buzzes and he pulls it out. 

“Double uh oh, I have to pick up my boyfriend from his friends house. Something about his friend’s mom being pissed off and not liking him. If you’re still feeling bad you can tag along if you’d like, but that might not be much fun for you.”

“No, I’m okay. I’m actually feeling a bit better,” Johnny says and he really means it. Hanging out with Doyoung felt like a breath of fresh air and Johnny is glad he called him at least. Though, he’s a bit sad that Doyoung has to leave so soon.

  
  


February 14, 2021

During fifth period, the fire alarm goes off. Johnny wasn’t really having a good time in this class anyway. He’d been trying to stick to his values of studying, but since the teacher doesn’t make learning easy, Johnny had been self-studying a lot of the material.

They file out onto the field, but then they hear a siren so of course kids start pushing towards the front of the school and Johnny simply lets himself be drawn out with them. It’s almost the end of the day anyways, and this chaos isn’t his fault, so it’s pretty whatever to him.

There is really no point in teachers trying to stop students from going towards the front of the school. It’s only dangerous on the off chance that there’s actually a fire, but when has the school ever actually been on fire when these incidents have happened? Oh, that’s right, never.

Once in front of the school, Johnny looks around. He spots a news van first which is honestly— well they must have been in the area if this is what’s going on the five o’clock news. Johnny spots Yuta and Mark too and makes an effort to move away from them. Mark and him haven’t spoken since last month and they only share band and history, classes they sit far apart in.

But past Mark and Yuta, Johnny sees Doyoung, looking especially annoyed by all the students around. But then Doyoung looks over at Yuta, clearly making his way over until Yuta kisses Mark’s cheek. Doyoung stops in his tracks and Johnny gets a bad feeling in his gut.

Johnny pushes through people without thinking, only thinking about how he has to get to Doyoung before he starts a fight or starts crying, he has no clue what Doyoung might do. All he knows is that Doyoung looks positively enraged.

“Doyoung!” Doyoung’s eyes snap to Johnny’s and his expression softens a little. Johnny gets to Doyoung and quickly finds them pressed together. “Is Yuta your boyfriend?” Doyoung nods slowly and Johnny’s heart sinks. Johnny looks over at Yuta again and sees him properly pressing a kiss to Mark’s lips.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Doyoung mutters. 

“Wait—” Doyoung turns on Johnny.

“Did you not just see him kiss that little punk?” Doyoung asks, now upset with Johnny. 

“Yes, but I know Mark and you need to know some shit about him before you yell at him. Please trust me,” Johnny begs. He fucked over Mark with the test mainly as a way to get revenge on Donghyuck, but he’s not gonna screw him here. He’s not gonna let Doyoung punch Mark or worse because of something that isn’t his fault.

“You are so lucky that I listen to you,” Doyoung says, tone making that sound like a threat which Johnny has no doubt that it is. “Okay, where do we go?”

“Let’s just push until we are at the end of the block and then there’s that park down forty second?” Doyoung nods. “Okay, go.” Then they are pushing through kids as fast as they can and Doyoung gets through more faster, clearly scaring some students by his appearance and how pissed off he is.

Once they are both across the street and can finally get some sort of personal space, they head down forty second towards the children’s park where Doyoung is probably going to get a lot of dirty looks. 

“Okay, explain while we’re walking so I can get myself less mad at Mark,” Doyoung demands.

“Mark has been hooking up with Yuta since like September I think—”

“I thought this was going to make me less mad at him?” Doyoung is about to turn on his heel, but Johnny grabs his arm. Something about this scene feels eerily familiar to the first time Doyoung and Johnny met, but Johnny doesn’t say anything.

“Yuta is also his first boyfriend. I know Mark and I also know that to most people he’s straight. He sort of came out to me in October, but he’s not sure of himself at all. I also know that Mark used to be a complete 4.0 student, but asked me to help him cheat on a test,” Johnny explains.

“So? Cheating and sexuality exploration aren't an excuse for helping a cheater,” Doyoung counters, but he seems less like he might punch Johnny in the face.

“Yeah, but I think Yuta is Mark’s way of starting to rebel against his parents and he’s very naive. I’ve talked to him and he talked about Yuta all giddy like— like when you have a crush on someone. I genuinely don’t think that he knows that Yuta was dating you first. If you didn’t know him, then how would he know you?” Johnny really hopes this convinces Doyoung because it’s hard to argue that vibes are the reason why someone doesn’t know that they are assisting a cheater.

“You really think he has no clue?” Doyoung asks, soft voice.

“Did you have any clue?” 

“No.” Johnny lets go of Doyoung’s arm, but Doyoung tentatively wraps his arms around Johnny’s waist, encasing him in a hug. “I just can’t believe I could be so stupid.”

“It’s okay, really. Relationships suck.” It’s not much but it makes Doyoung laugh a bit, face pressed into Johnny’s shoulder as they stand in the middle of the block.

“Have you got over your casual guy yet?” Doyoung asks.

“Not at all,” Johnny confesses. “So lets do something stupid and rash to get rid of our feelings.”

“That’s a great idea, but first I would like to be pushed on the swings and glare at adults,” Doyoung says.

“That’s perfectly okay. Let's go.” 

  
  


February 19, 2021

Johnny is sitting alone in his room studying when his phone rings. At first he’s tempted to decline the call, but before he can make up his mind, his phone stops ringing. Well, that makes the decision for him. Only then his phone starts ringing again. Johnny looks at the caller ID and sees that it’s Doyoung and answers.

“Hi, Doyoung,” Johnny says. “Sorry for not picking up, I was studying.”

“Nice, but I figured out what we’re gonna do tonight and you don’t have an option,” Doyoung replies. “I thought of the perfect way to get revenge on Yuta and you can help purge your feelings. Also I’m out front and would honk, but I have a feeling your parents might find that annoying. Same reason why I’m not ringing your doorbell a million times.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Johnny replies, sarcastic. “Give me a minute to get a jacket and some shoes. Do I need anything else?”

“Nope. Now hurry up, sweet cheeks.” Doyoung hangs up and the phone and Johnny scrambles up. Every part of this seems like a bad idea, but Yuta is a total dick and has this coming, whatever it may be. So Johnny grabs his jacket from his bed and slips on his shoes, heading down the stairs. 

“My friend just had a really shitty break up, can I go hang out with him for a bit?” Johnny asks. His parents better say yes. It’s a Friday night and Johnny hasn’t gotten into any trouble since his C in History.

“Yeah, sure. Just make sure to be home by one,” his mom replies.

“Thanks, you’re the best.” Johnny heads out the front door and sees Doyoung in a small black Lexus. It’s as Doyoung as a car can be without direct customization. Johnny climbs into the passenger seat and Doyoung is off before Johnny can even get his seatbelt on. 

Doyoung drives without any music on for a minute. It's quiet and Johnny isn’t sure if he should speak or not, but clearly the silence bothers Doyoung as he turns towards Johnny when they get to a red light. 

“Just ask what you want to ask, I can feel your gaze peeling back my skin,” Doyoung says before slamming on the gas.

“Where are we going?” Johnny asks. “And why are you driving like we are trying to go back in time?”

“To Yuta’s barn. I already trashed his room this afternoon because I know he’s going out with Sicheng or Jaehyun or someone. So once he sees that I’ve been there, I have a feeling he might try to come to the barn, so that’s why we’re speeding like hell,” Doyoung explains. “And I’m not about to get pulled over, don’t worry. Mind reader, remember?” Johnny has no idea what mind reading has to do with not getting pulled over, but Johnny trusts Doyoung.

“So I assume there’s stuff in the back so we can trash it,” Johnny says. “I’m not above vandalism.”

“I’m sure you’re not. I got some gasoline as an extra way to tell Yuta to fuck himself.” Johnny’s eyes widen. “You need to think quieter, I swear. But yeah, the floor of the barn is concrete and I don’t really care if the entire thing burns to the ground. It’s also going to rain in about two hours because y’know, February, which will help control the fire if we fuck up.” 

“I’m glad to see you’re prepared.”

“Always.” Doyoung continues to drive like the wind until they cross into the forest. The trees are dark overhead and it’s hard to see, but Doyoung doesn’t slow down until a two story farmhouse comes into view. Doyoung is completely off the road at this point, but he clearly doesn’t care, popping the trunk and walking around the back. All the trees around them only have the barest few leaves on them since winter hasn’t fully ended.

“Do you have a flashlight?” Johnny asks, climbing out.

“There’s lights inside and besides, we have to create our fire pit first.” Johnny doesn’t know what Doyoung means by that exactly, but he grabs Doyoung’s fire extinguisher from the back while Doyoung grabs the gasoline and lighter. 

They walk inside and it’s nearly pitch black. Doyoung sets down the gasoline with a clang before walking around to find a light switch. It isn’t perfect lighting by any means, but it’s decent enough for Johnny to get a good look around. There’s a loft level with a ladder leading up to it and there’s what looks like a nest up there. Aka flammable shit.

“I’m gonna go climb up there and drop stuff down here. Start by moving those couches into a vague square or whatever,” Doyoung directs before climbing up the ladder. Johnny turns to the scattered array of couches and pulls them all towards the center of the concrete floor, making them into a circle of sorts. It’s not quite a square, but it’s something.

“Okay, ready for you to throw things,” Johnny calls, stepping outside of the circle of couches. Doyoung drops the first few pillows outside of the circle, so Johnny goes and throws them into the middle.

“Can you help me get the bigger bean bags?” Doyoung asks, voice echoing throughout the space. “I don’t want to just drop them straight down.” 

“Coming up.” Johnny climbs the ladder up to the loft carefully, watching where he steps and once he’s at the top, he sees Doyoung, slightly pink and sweaty, clearly worked up into a tizzy. 

“This one first.” Doyoung points to the largest bean bag and they lift it up together, balancing it on the edge before throwing it towards the circle. Thankfully it lands right in the middle and Doyoung high fives Johnny. 

“Okay, now which one?” Johnny asks, finally getting into the destroying property mood. Something about Doyoung being so amped is sticking to him as well.

They toss the rest of the bean bags down with minimal issues and then they head back down the ladder. Doyoung pushes things closer together before going back for the gasoline.

“I’m going to be super careful with this so I don’t get any on my clothes, which is why you’re not gonna pour any. Just to be extra safe you’ll light it,” Doyoung explains. “I have matches too if the lighter makes you a little nervous.”

“Matches sound much better,” Johnny replies, watching Doyoung with a careful eye. He pours a minimal amount of gasoline around the edge of the circle, still on top of bean bags and mores a lot more on the top of it. 

“I’m gonna go put this back in my car and grab my hammer just in case this fire doesn’t take down the whole barn.” Doyoung sounds really calm which puts Johnny’s mind at ease a bit. It isn’t like this is his first time playing with fire, but this is the first on this sort of a scale. Doyoung returns, hammer in hand.

“Ready?” Johnny asks and Doyoung nods, flicking off the lights.

“Catch.” Doyoung throws Johnny a pack of matches which he catches easily. The barn door is left open in case of a quick escape and Doyoung stands several feet back from the circle. “Burn it.” Johnny lights the match and tosses it on the pile of stuff, shocked at how fast it catches. He backs away from it, coming to stand side by side with Doyoung as the flames spread and spark. 

“Do you think we should damage the outside or no?”

“Oh for sure, this is staying contained unless sparks go all the way up to the roof which is unlikely.” Doyoung points to the sparks that are landing on the concrete with nothing to catch.

“Alright,” Johnny says, letting himself relax. He feels the adrenaline finally, having refused to let himself stay anything but clear headed during prep, but now he can watch as Yuta’s shit burns. There’s no way he’s enjoying himself as much as Doyoung, but that’s obvious as Doyoung walks outside, taking Johnny by the hand with him to smash his hammer into the side of the building. He pulls it back out, leaving a giant hole.

“Your turn,” Doyoung mumbles, handing over the hammer and Johnny swings against the building as hard as he can, making the whole thing creak on its unsteady foundatation. “Ooh, nice.”

Rain starts to sprinkle on both of them, so Johnny pulls the hammer out of the building and takes a step back, water dripping onto him.

“I think I want to spray paint the side of the building,” Doyoung says, walking back over to his car and pulling out a can of bright red spray paint. 

“What are you going to spray on it?” Johnny asks, chest heaving a bit from the sheer force used against the side of the barn. 

“You’ll see.” Doyoung walks to the front of the barn and Johnny follows him. The words ‘Fuck U Yuta’ slowly take form over the front and Doyoung has his tongue between his teeth the whole time, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Being impulsive isn’t a good quality, but maybe in moderation it’s okay. Doyoung finishes with his spray paint and looks at Johnny and all Johnny can think of is his impulse to kiss Doyoung. He leans in closer, Doyoung clearly aware of where Johnny wants this to go, so Doyoung throws his arms around Johnny’s shoulders and they kiss there, the rain falling around them.

**Author's Note:**

> drop a kudos or a comment if you liked it :]
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/occultclysms)  
> [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.qa/carrotyeol)


End file.
